A Stronghold of Rulers and RebelsWith the recent death toll jumping to nearly 100 and 1,000 injured, Hrushevskoho Street, one of the strongholds of EuroMaidan’s three-month-long protests, made headlines around the globe. It was here, on 19 January the country’s stand against government corruption, abuse of power, and the violation of human rights turned from peaceful protest to all-out revolution. Having witnessed much over the years, Hrushevskoho is a street with a history, and not only care of recent days.

Acelebrity using their status and intelligence to influence public views and opinion is rarely seen in modern society, even less so in Ukraine. Here, the majority of celebs use their time, effort, and money to enhance or further their career rather than put their name to something that can do good for others. However, as EuroMaidan intensifies, some are making themselves heard – and they fall either side of the EuroMaidan divide.

It used to be that when rebellion and revolution occurred, the intellectual, creative, and spiritual elite would be front and centre.

When Walls Can TalkPeople have been writing on walls since the dawn of civilisation, we call it graffiti, and ranges from simple written words to elaborate wall paintings. Sometimes it is merely the creator wanting to leave his or her mark; sometimes there is an underlying social or political reason. And it is due to the latter that graffiti has exploded across Kyiv in recent months. Anti dictator messages aside, we peel back a few layers of paint to look at graffiti in the city in general.

Reports are circulating of a new sighting of the legendary Lake Somin Serpent, a mys− terious monster which has been haunting the residents of a nearby West Ukrainian village in the Polessie lowlands for over a century. Locals have been avoiding the lake for generations af− ter reports began to circulate of a huge serpent with the body of a crocodile and the head of a monster in the early twentieth century. A report from the village chairman sent to Warsaw (at the time West Ukraine was incorporated into interwar Poland) states that villagers were not paying the fish tax because a ‘giant serpent’ was eating all the fish. According to the report the unidentified beast had also harassed livestock and local farmers. Village elders claim that the recent sightings are the first for thirty years, and say that the monster is known to moan and wheeze throughout the night. Some scientists believe that the creature is actually a giant catfish of the kind commonly found in the lakes and ponds of the region. Catfish have been known to grow to up to two meters in length throughout West Ukraine. Other experts claim that the monster could be a prehistoric freshwater shark which inexplicably survived the last Ice Age. Archeological finds in the region of fossilised fish bones certainly suggest that it was once home to large water−borne carnivores. Lake Somin itself is over fifty metres deep and is part of a chain of lakes that are all that is left of an ancient freshwater sea. Many of the three hundred lakes scattered around the area are linked by underground caves and tunnels, and locals remain convinced that these underwater caverns hold the secret to the Somin Serpent. Cynics have suggested that the latest sighting is nothing short of an attempt to boost tourism in the region, pointing to the long−standing use of the ‘Loch Ness Monster’ to drum up interest in Scotlands tourist centres despite any concrete evidence that such an animal ever existed.

Throughout EuroMaidan much has been made of Ukrainians making a stand for their rights. What exactly those rights are were never clearly defined. Ukraine ratified the Univer­sal Declaration of Human Rights in 1952. The first article of the Declaration states all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, they are endowed with reason and conscience, and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. The ousted and overthrown Ukrainian government showed to the world they don’t understand the meaning of these words.

Pulling StringsLocated on Hrushevskoho Street – the epicentre of EuroMaidan violence, home to battles, blazes and barricades – children’s favourite the Academic Puppet Theatre had to shut down in February. Nevertheless, it is getting ready to reopen this March with a renewed repertoire to bring some laughter back to a scene of tragedy. Operating (not manipulating) puppets is a subtle art that can make kids laugh and adults cry. What’s On meets Mykola Petrenko, art director of the Theatre, to learn more about those who pull the strings behind the show.